CHAPTER 28

AT THE OUTING

Ai Eng paused for awhile and just walked into her room, ignoring Jun Xuan. Just as Ai Eng was closing her room door, Jun Xuan put his hand on the door so as to block the door, and he looked at Ai Eng with those eyes filled with misery. Then Ai Eng looked at him in a very miserable and pleading way that made Jun Xuan slowly withdrew his hand and looked at Ai Eng with a very agonic expression on his face. Looking at Jun Xuan sadly, Ai Eng closed the door in front of Jun Xuan.

Inside the room, Ai Eng put her hand on the door and leaned her head on her hand, closing her eyes sadly.

Outside the room, Jun Xuan also leaned his head on the door and closed his eyes, feeling miserably.

At that time, Jun Xuan and Ai Eng were so close yet so far away too. There was not only lied a door between them but many more things.

When Jun Xuan opened his room door and walked into the room, he switched on the light and saw Yun Xi leaning against his study desk, looking at him coldly. At that time, Jun Xuan just looked straight ahead coldly and walked towards his bed after he had closed his room door, ignoring Yun Xi. Just as Jun Xuan was walking past Yun Xu, Yun Xi called out,

“Brother.”

Jun Xuan stopped walking and stood in front of Yun Xi without looking at her. Yun Xi looked at her brother and asked in a cold tone,

“Aren’t you curious why I am here?”

“Curious? Why should I?”

Jun Xuan asked with a sarcastic smile on his face. He then continued walking towards his bed. Yun Xi walked towards Jun Xuan and stood in front of him with an angry stare. She said,

“I know that you have never liked me because my mum had destroyed your happy family. But I have never done any wrong to you. And I am your sister after all. Why did you tell Tian Ming to leave me? Don’t you know how important Tian Ming means to me? I mean this is the…”

Yun Xi cried out. But Jun Xuan just looked at her coldly at that time. She wiped her tears and continued talking,

“This is the first time I really feel I need someone so badly. I love him. I love him so much that I can do anything just to get him back.”

Yun Xi slowly knelt down in front of Jun Xuan and said in a pleading tone, still crying

“Brother, please help yourself and me to get what we want.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Jun Xuan asked coldly and looked away. Yun Xi looked up at her brother with tears rolling down from her big round eyes and said,

“All you have to do is to get the person who lies in your heart by every mean. Even if you can’t win her heart over, at least have her by force. And I will do the same thing.”

Jun Xuan looked at Yun Xi angrily which made Yun Xi looked away feeling scared. Jun Xuan then said with a low tone,

“Okay.”

Yun Xi looked up at her brother with an unbelievable look on her face and asked doubtfully,

“Did you just say okay?”

“Yes. I said okay. So you may leave now. I am going to sleep now.”

Jun Xuan said coldly and walked past Yun Xi. He lied on his bed and closed his eyes, leaving Yun Xi kneeling on the floor. Looking at her brother, Yun Xi slowly got up and walked to the door. Before closing the door behind her, Yun Xi turned her head and gave a very agony expression on her face.

When the door was closed, Jun Xuan opened his eyes and said to himself,

“It’s time for us to get this clear and make appropriate moves at this point of time. Since no one is taking the first step, I will be the one then. No matter what happened at the end, I just want to say ‘Ai Eng, just go with your heart.’”

Then Jun Xuan closed his eyes sadly.

At the outing, Jun Xuan was holding an uncle’s hand and assisting him, while in front of him was Ai Eng who was pushing an auntie on the wheelchair with Xiang He who was pushing another elderly on the wheelchair. Jun Xuan was looking at Ai Eng and Xiang He angrily as they were chatting and laughing happily along the way in at a street where there were a lot of small stores which sell all kinds of things.

Ai Eng looked at Xiang He and said with a smile,

“I didn’t expect you, Mr Yoon Xiang He to join us here. I thought you don’t usually come out, as you would prefer to stay at home and sleep. So what makes you want to come along? Oh! You must be aiming for the feast later, right!”

Xiang He suddenly looked at Ai Eng with a serious look on his face and said in a passionate tone,

“I come out here because of you.”


Xiang He put his hand on Ai Eng’s hand which was holding the wheelchair handle which made Jun Xuan almost ran to them but that uncle whom he was helping was walking too slow so he just could see them from behind and try to drag that poor uncle closer to them.

Ai Eng pushed Xiang He’s hand away and laughed, saying,

“Yeah! Because of me! Stop joking, will you? If you really like me, you wouldn’t have to reject a young and pretty girl like me ten years ago when I first came out to work in this industry. And you were the one who had been comforting me and me laugh when I got scolded by the models’ managers for not being able to do what they expected. So I gradually found myself liking you. I confessed to you but got rejected because you said that you can never be a good lover as you don’t wish to be tied down by anything or anyone but you can definitely be a good friend.”

“Oh really! Did I really reject you?”

Xiang He asked and laughed out proudly. Ai Eng looked ahead and smiled, saying,

“Yeah, that time I was really heart broken because you were the first guy whom I truly loved. But thinking back, it was a great experience for me, as I have learnt that loving someone you don’t have to be together with that person. It’s good enough to know that person is living happily, and life still goes on for me.”

Then Ai Eng suddenly gave a sad expression and said,

“I hope they will eventually learn it too.”

“You mean Tian Ming and Jun Xuan, right!”

Xiang He said, looking at Ai Eng. Then he peeped behind him, as he felt there was someone looking at him. He quickly turned to look at Ai Eng and said with a scared expression,

“Ai Eng, you know what. I am not sure about Tian Ming but I am very sure that your stepson is going to beat me up now.”
“What????”

Ai Eng asked, looking at Xiang He shivering a bit. When Xiang He pointed behind him, Ai Eng turned her head to look behind and was shocked to find Jun Xuan was just a few steps behind them. Furthermore, he was staring fiercely at them with that uncle on his back. That uncle was smiling happily and rest his head on Jun Xuan’s back comfortably.

Ai Eng looked at Jun Xuan with that sorry expression that made Jun Xuan look away and walked past Ai Eng. Jun Xuan was walking ahead of Ai Eng now. Looking at Jun Xuan’s back, Ai Eng said to Xiang He sadly,

“If there is anything I can do to reduce the pain in his heart, I will do it.”

“There is nothing that you can do, as only he himself can reduce the pain if he’s willing to let go.”

Xiang He said, looking ahead with a smile. Then he looked at Ai Eng and said,

“Ai Eng, let me ask you something. In your heart, do you love any one of them or you love both of them?”

Ai Eng suddenly stopped walking and gave a real hard thought. Then she looked at Xiang He with a confused expression and said, touching her head

“I don’t know. I am very confused now.”
“Well I am sure that you know it very well that you do love both of them. You are confused because you are not sure who you love the most and who you should choose. Is it your Husband or anyone of them? You are just running away from your true feeling because you are afraid to hurt any one of them. Ai Eng, all I can advise you as a buddy to you is stop running away and start asking your heart what you really want. If you continue to be like this, you will just increase their misery and pain. So make a right decision.”

Ai Eng looked at Xiang He as he continued walking and looked at one direction, thinking of what Xiang He had just said. Ai Eng suddenly jumped up a bit when she felt someone touching her hand. She quickly looked down and saw it was the auntie who was on the wheelchair which she was pushing. Then she quickly bent down and asked with a smile, patting the auntie’s hand,

“Yes, what do you want, auntie? Are you feeling cold?”

Ai Eng quickly took out an extra coat from her bag. After putting on the coat for that Auntie, that auntie held Ai Eng’s hand and patted gently, smiling brightly. Looking at that auntie’s smile, Ai Eng held her hands and smiled happily for the first time ever since her husband’s disappearance. Then she got up, smiling happily and feeling distressed. Then she continued pushing the auntie. While pushing the Auntie, she started to realize something so she breathed in air and released it, smiling happily.

Looking at Ai Eng from far, Jun Tai sighed and shook his head in despair. Madam Han who was together with him helping one of the old folks on the wheelchair asked when she saw Jun Tai sighing,

“Why are you sighing? Are you tired?”

“Don’t worry, Madam Han. I am still okay. I am just feeling tired for Auntie because there are too many things for her to handle and face. I hope that she will get over soon.”

Jun Tai told Madam Han in a sad tone. Madam Han touched Jun Tai’s head and said with a smile,

“Silly boy, don’t worry about your auntie because she is a very strong and sensible woman so she will know how to handle things.”

“But I am scared that she will leave our family one day. And that day will come soon.”

Jun Tai said, looking at Madam Han worriedly. Madam Han told him,

“Jun Tai, I am sure that you know that in life there are things that we can’t stop them from happening. So let nature takes its place.”

After hearing what Madam Han said, Jun Tai looked at Ai Eng from far, feeling sad. Then he said in his heart,

“But I don’t wish Auntie to leave us.”

On the other hand, Tian Ming and that Big Boss were at Tian Ming’s new department. That Big Boss looked around with his mouth wide opened and said,

“Wow…….. Your department is really big and luxurious.”

Tian Ming threw a can of beer to that big Boss and opened one in his hand. He started drinking one can after another. That Big Boss was shocked to see Tian Ming almost drank all a dozen of cans of beer in the plastic bag. So he took all the cans of beer away from Tian Ming and asked,

“Are you trying to kill yourself? Don’t you know you will get alcohol poison if you drink too much at a time?”

Tian Ming walked unsteadily to that Big Boss and tried to snatch back those cans but failed because he was pushed down by the Big Boss. That Big Boss shouted at him,

“BE LIKE A MAN, WILL YOU! IF HAVE ANY PROBLEM, JUST FACE IT AND FIND A SOLUTION TO SOLVE IT! DON’T JUST STAY HERE AND DRINK LIKE HELL!”

And then Tian Ming got up and walked unstably out of his department. Looking at Tian Ming went out of the house, that big boss threw all the cans in his hands and ran after Tian Ming and was unable to get hold of him because the lift door had already closed by time he reached outside the lift.


It was night time, when Ai Eng and all the volunteers and the old folks were in the restaurant having dinner, Ai Eng realized that Jun Xuan was nowhere to be seen. So she went to that Uncle who was under Jun Xuan’s care and asked,
“Excuse me, Uncle, do you know where has that young man who has carried you on his back gone to?”
“I don’t know but just now he stopped at a shop and looked at the cotton gloves. That shop was just two streetsaway from here.”

That Uncle said. Then Ai Eng said,

“Ok, thank you, Uncle. Enjoy your meal.”

Then Ai Eng quickly walked to where Jun Tai and Madam Han sat and said to them,

“I have to go somewhere for awhile. I will be back soon. You all have your meal first.”

Ai Eng quickly ran out of the restaurant and looked around for Jun Xuan worriedly. Ai Eng had searched for half an hour and so was worried that she almost cried out. So she stopped her search and started walking back. On her way back, she saw Jun Xuan walking in front of her so she ran to him and asked angrily, grabbing his arm tight,

“Don’t you know you should at least tell us where you will be going?!”

Looking at Ai Eng’s worried face and red eyes, Jun Xuan took Ai Eng’s hand rom his arm and put the pink gloves on her hands, saying with a smile,

“See your hands are as cold as ice. Ummmm…. These gloves look nice on your hands.”

Ai Eng looked at Jun Xuan, feeling touched. Then Jun Xuan wrote something on her palm with his finger. He wrote “I Y U”. Jun Xuan stretched his hands and hugged Ai Eng. Ai Eng lifted her hands and wanted to hug him back. But instead she held his arms and pushed him backwards. Ai Eng said, looking at Jun Xuan,

“Please don’t do this. I think we should go back now. They must be waiting for us worriedly.”

When Ai Eng took back her hands from Jun Xuan‘s arms, Jun Xuan grabbed her hands and stared at her full of reluctance. Ai Eng looked at him coldly and said,

“Jun Xuan, please.”

Ai Eng pulled her hands back, leaving the pink gloves in Jun Xuan’s hands. Then she walked past him which made Jun Xuan closed his eyes and tears just rolled down, holding the pink gloves tightly.